“IN WISDOM”
Ephesians 5. 15-21
The Twentieth Sunday after Trinity: 24 October Anno Domini 2004
Fr Watson
Walking in Wisdom isn't about you doing the walking; it's about being "in" Wisdom. The Apostle desires that you be what the Lord has made you to be. Paul wishes for you to have the same joy and peace which he had in his own walk with the Savior, or more precisely, by him, Paul, being "in" Christ Jesus.
He wants you to walk wisely and circumspectly, not as fools. By nature, we are fools. We don't like walking; too slow, boring, not enough flash and glory. We'd rather run and lunge and bolt and act on our own. Thus the proverb about all of us "fools rushing in..." But when one is "in" Christ Jesus, which you are by virtue of being baptized into His death in the water's of rebirth, one is grafted into Wisdom itself. Christ is the Truth enfleshed, and now His blood covers you and His flesh is your bread from heaven.
The fool in us trusts in men, in synodical and district structures, or, even as bad, in "good men" more to our liking "confessional" organizations, web-sites, and famous families. To be wise means to trust only in Christ. To be "in" Christ means to have His word in you; in your ears, in your eyes, in your mind, in your mouths.
The days you live in are indeed evil. You don't need to be told that. You daily experience evil and the affronts of bad men, even men claiming to be looking out for your welfare. The days are evil because of you. You do need to be told that because your natural inclination is to deny culpability and blame. But any of your daily sins are every bit as damning and offensive to the Lord as the most heinous evil perpetrated by your so-called enemies.
The "Time" must be redeemed. Time, the passage of chronological moments; seconds, minutes, hours, days, lives... is also a creation of the Lord. Time along with all other physical "things," along with your souls, has been corrupted and sentenced to death. Time has to be bought back from dominion to the devil and restored to its rightful place as the backdrop for your fruitful communion with the Lord. Only Christ Redeems. All of your machinations, plans, resolutions, works, and deeds to live "a good industrious life" are worthless. Only Jesus' precious Blood liberates the moment, the span, the eternity. Time.
Understand the will of the Lord. Paul wants you to know the suffering servant God, the flesh and blood Immanuel. The will of the Lord is that you believe in His atoning work on your behalf. The will of God is that you trust in Him above all things. The will of Jesus is that you feast on His teachings and upon His Body and His Blood. When one eats a lot of heavy carbohydrates at noon one naturally becomes sleepy by 1 pm. When a child ingests quantities of sugar and caffeine it naturally runs around and is "active." When a brother and sister of Christ eats His Blessed Supper and feasts on His words of life, that saint will naturally be filled with the Life that God desires he or she to have. The wisdom that Paul seeks you to have comes from wise eating and drinking. The will of the Lord for you is that you are loved and cared for by Him; that you are fed and protected and given peace by Him. When that occurs through preaching and absolution and the Sacrament, then you are wise and you do His will.
Rather than becoming dissipated, inebriated, decaying drunk on the wine of man you become enlivened, quickened, forgiven, strengthened and filled with the Immortality of Life on the wine of God, which is Christ's very Blood. The same blood which He shed for you in the praetorium and upon the tree, you drink with your lips. From His heart to your mouth, to your soul, that's how you're filled with the Spirit. That's how you "walk" in wisdom; "in" wisdom by drinking It (Him) in great draughts from His chalice.
In this Word, words, washings, meals, forgivings, you will find yourselves compelled to be "in" His walk. His way. His will. You will find yourselves here at His holy Mass "speaking to one another in Psalms [the Introit] and hymns [# 371 Jesus, thy Blood and Righteousness] and spiritual songs [the Sanctus] ...giving thanks always for all things...to God the Father, (by the Spirit) + in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.